Winter's Heart
by kingsmeadroad
Summary: TV Prompt oneshot- H/P- He loves her. He can't make it any clearer.


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Criminal Minds related. Characters are merely borrowed and will be put back later. ;)**

**Title: Winter's Heart**

**Prompt: Even Fairy Tale Characters Would Be Jealous**

"_You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.__"_

_Dr Seuss_

He slipped his arm around her waist and stroked her hip gently, keeping her warm against the cold night air. The skies were clear and the iron white stars sparkled down, stubbornly, obnoxiously, watching them walk, privy to their more private moments. The snow crunched satisfyingly under their feet and Emily felt particularly enamoured with the arm at her side. Her boots were keeping her feet warm, her black jeans keeping the heat in- but there was nothing quite like Aaron's arm holding her close.

She was looking forward to getting home; to his home. She had, for all intents and purposes, pretty much moved out of her own house some eight months previously, just four months after they had started their relationship. Just a year down the line, and her life had changed so much. The fact was that she loved this man so much she felt her heart would break if ever she was apart from him. He was just as much an extension of her as the BAU was- probably more so, and she had never envisioned herself saying that.

They wandered along the path some more, before they arrived at the lake. It was a beautiful night, and the lake was still and calm, a glassy silver shimmering on the water as the starlight hit it. The flowers along the edges and by the trees were some of the most beautiful she had ever seen; she loved it here. It had been the place they would go to whenever they needed time alone. They would rest, sit, think, sometimes eat, and often- very often- kiss. This was a place of peace and quiet, solitude and thought. Even in the dark, there was nothing threatening about it.

She allowed him to pull her to their usual spot, the wooden bench that had kept them there for long hours in the spring, rain hail or shine. She had seen it in all weathers and it didn't matter what would happen to the Earth; this little tiny piece of paradise would always be here, always perfect, always calming and pretty. But here, at winter's heart, it was at its breathtaking best.

The lanterns hanging from the trees cast a soft golden glow around the area, the odd bird flickering across the water every now and again, disturbing the peace and the silence. There was a small waterfall nearby, and she could hear the light trickle consistently pressing a happy peace into the lake and its surrounds.

He sat next to her on the bench and stretched his arm over her shoulders. She rested her head against him and closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead, rubbing her arm to keep out the cold as best he could.

He had been thinking about this for a long time. Ever since she had wandered into his life and he had taken a walk with her that first Sunday in January, and they had found this place, he had wanted it to be a part of them forever. He watched his breath rise in front of his face, the winter night claiming the warmth as fast as he exhaled, and he sighed happily.

The world had changed for him; he was in love, ecstatically so, and that position was unlikely to change. In fact he didn't want it to.

"Emily?" he half whispered, leaning his head against hers and reaching for her other hand, slipping it into his own. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it, making her smile.

"Mmmm?" she answered, caught up in the beauty of the lake and the unbelievable colours from the flowers in winter.

"Marry me."

She pulled away from him and turned to face him on the bench. "Aaron?" she said softly.

"Marry me," he said, boldly and louder than before. Before she could say anything, he looked at her, right in her eyes and kept talking. "It's been a year. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. I can't-bear- to think of what my life was like without you. Every day makes me smile, I love everything you do, everything you say, everything you are. If you ever leave me I think I'll die; tell me that you'll stay with me forever- Marry me."

She looked at him for a long time, staring into his eyes and trying her best to remember what he had said. It was true, she loved him. Every single thing about him set her heart on fire, thumping wildly in her chest. She had been alright without him- but with him, she was, swollen cliché aside, complete. He finished her off. Every kiss made her incandescently happy, every hug propped her up, every night she spent with him was like heaven and there was nothing she loved more than waking up in the morning to hear him tell her that he loved her and saying it back.

"Yes." She said suddenly.

"Yes?" he said, his eyes wide.

"Yes," she said, her face scrunching into absurd happiness as a rough, unyielding wave of emotion overcame her and tears fell from her eyes. "Yes, yes!" she said loudly, beaming with joy and pressing her hands over her mouth to stop from screaming with happiness.

He got up from his seat and though her eyes were blurred and watery, she could see him walking towards her. His face was gently lit by the lanterns and a bird twittered on a branch nearby. The wind moved through the trees and she could hear the rustle of the leaves as the world went on around her. But she didn't care. He reached her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and swirling her through the air before letting her down and kissing her, holding her hands tightly for a minute before cupping her face gently to look into her eyes.

"I love you," he said simply.

"You know I love you," she replied, "More than anything."

Her tears were drying now, and she kissed him again, softly kissing his lower lip, pulling at his coat collar with her hands and holding him close to her. She smiled as her lips fell against his. _I love you_, she said in her head each time she softly kissed him._ I love you, I love you , I love you._

He was more than happy to kiss her again and again- but there was something else first. He pulled back and reached a hand into his jacket pocket, taking out the tiny box and opening it for her. "You said yes," he said, voice wavering. "I hoped you would."

She smiled at him, her lips shaking as tears came once more. It was the most beautiful ring she had seen, a thin band of white gold topped with a small but stunning diamond, shaped into an oval and shining like the moon in the picturesque winter evening. On either side of the diamond, there were tiny, intricate designs lacing from the stone outward, tiny tendrils of white gold that made the band look like the most delicately fragile and beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"It's beautiful," she said softly as he pressed it onto her finger.

"It's nowhere near as beautiful as you," he whispered into her ear, making another tear fall down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and kissed her lips one last time.

"Let's go home," he said. She nodded and took one last, breathtaking glance around her. Lights, water and snow mingled to give her the most beautiful engagement she could ever have thought of, the iron twinkling stars above her gleaming down. This place would be a part of her forever; a dreamy reality that defeated imagination and defied sadness and horror.

He wrapped his arm back around her as they walked, leaning over to kiss her dark hair every now and again, to whisper "I love you,", words he would never, ever tire of saying to her. This was what he wanted. The most beautiful place in the world with the most beautiful woman he had ever met. No dream would grant him this blissful ecstasy that burnt through his chest.

"I love you."


End file.
